Deaths, resignations in Congress test narrow majority

July 22 (UPI) -- The death of Sen. Lindsey Graham is the sixth in the 119th Congressional term, bringing the total number of lawmakers needing to be replaced during their term to 13.

President Donald Trump's choice to succeed Graham, the late Senator's sister Darline Graham Nordone, will serve in an honorary capacity until a new South Carolina Senator is elected to a full term on Nov. 3. Trump's endorsement is just that -- an endorsement. The president plays no official role in choosing lawmakers to replace those who have left office in the midst of their term either by resigning or by death.

"Certainly the president has taken a very strong interest in the South Carolina Senate seat," Meena Bose, dean of Hofstra University's public policy program and director of presidential studies, told UPI. "The Republican Party has a majority of three in the Senate, including Sen. Graham's seat. A margin of three is harder to overcome in the Senate than in the House because there are fewer seats that are competitive. Party control of both chambers is definitely very competitive for November."

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster followed the president's recommendation and appointed Nordone.

The deaths in the 119th assembly are not unique. On average, about 10 lawmakers die during each assembly.

Resignations during this term have been more of an outlier. Typically about three lawmakers resign during a term of Congress. Six have resigned during this term, including Mikie Sherrill, who resigned after winning New Jersey's gubernatorial election last year.

The deaths and resignations in the 119th term are more notable because of the slim Republican majority in the House. Republicans have a 218-12 edge in the House with four active vacancies. The majority in the Senate is 53 to 45, again favoring Republicans..

There are four active vacancies on Capitol Hill with Nordone filling Graham's seat.

"The issue here is really that there have been vacancies and resignations and that the margin is so narrow for party control, particularly in the House of Representatives," Bose said. "The number of resignations or decisions not to run for re-election is indicative of questions about why people want to serve in office or indicative of a question of are people hesitant to serve in public office, and if so, why?"

The 119th term is historic for the number of lawmakers who will not seek re-election when their term ends. Fifty-six members of the House and Senate are stepping away from Capitol Hill, the most in more than 30 years.

Deaths and resignations have affected both major parties during the 119th term.

The Republican Party has seen four lawmakers resign during this term, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who fell out of favor with Trump after pushing for the release of the files on convicted sex offender and former Trump-associate Jeffrey Epstein and voicing criticism of Trump over his second term policies.

For the Democratic Party, three lawmakers have resigned.

Political pressure is one reason that lawmakers have vacated their seats mid term, like Taylor Greene.

Several other lawmakers have resigned amid allegations of wrongdoing.

California Gubernatorial hopeful Eric Swalwell ended his campaign and his time in the House after numerous allegations of sexual assault surfaced against him in April. Swalwell denied the accusations and held onto his seat in Congress for a few days before announcing his resignation.

The Democratic Party lost another representative to resignation in the House in April as well. Rep. Sheila Cheerfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., resigned from Congress amid federal charges alleging she stole $5 million in disaster relief funds. She has denied the allegations but was found guilty by the House Ethics Committee of 25 ethics violations in May.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, also resigned in April following allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a staffer and separate allegations of sexual harassment. The staffer that Gonzales allegedly had an affair with died by suicide in September.

Graham's death marked the sixth death of a lawmaker during this term and the second in the Republican Party. Four Democrats all over the age of 70 have died.

The procedures to replace a lawmaker in the middle of their term are dictated by the states. In 45 states, the governor has the authority to appoint a temporary replacement, as McMaster did in South Carolina.

"Typically the governor has some leeway to select the person," Bose said. "Then there will be a special election for the rest of the term. That is scheduled either in the regular election cycle or potentially in a special election."

State laws dictate when a new senator must be elected, whether it be in the next general election or in a special election, depending on the timing of the vacancy. Nebraska is an example of a state that allows a temporary appointment to finish out the active term in the Senate if it becomes vacant within 60 days of the general election and that Senate term ends in that election.

Whether a vacancy occurs on an odd or even-numbered year adds another layer of nuance in some states. In Minnesota, if a Senate seat is left vacant during an odd-numbered year, a special election may be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November that year.

In most cases, the governor must choose a replacement from the same party that held the seat before it became vacant, reflecting how voters chose to fill that seat. In 16 states, including South Carolina, the governor can choose a replacement from any party, meaning a Republican governor could choose a Republican senator to fill a seat that was held by a Democrat and vice versa.

This happened in 2013, when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, appointed Republican Jeffrey Chiesa, the state's attorney general, as an interim replacement to fill Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg's seat after his death. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., later won the seat in the general election.

In six states -- Hawaii, Montana, North Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia and Wyoming -- the governor is restricted to a list of three nominees that are put forth by the previous senator's party. Utah also does this, but instead of a political party choosing the candidates it is the state legislature.

Four states do not allow for temporary appointments of senators by the governor: Kentucky, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Those states require a special election under all circumstances.

The authority, or option to exercise the authority, for a governor to appoint replacements to the Senate was originally granted by the 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913. Prior to that, state legislatures chose senators and their replacements when needed.

Unlike the Senate, voters have always elected their representatives to the House.When it comes to replacements, the process is largely the same, though because senators serve terms of six years and representatives in the House serve two-year terms, Senate replacements are considered more consequential, Bose said.

A state can replace a representative to the House by special election or appointment, dictated by that state's law.

House code orders that the chief executive of each state, its governor, is responsible for calling a special election when it needs to fill a congressional vacancy.

Most states dictate a time limit over how long a governor has to call a special election. State election officials will often hold a special election that coincides with another regularly scheduled election. This can be cost effective for the states and aids with the logistics of carrying out an election.

Like in general and midterm elections, many states will hold primaries for special elections to determine major party nominations to replace congresspeople. These primaries follow the same rules as the states' regular primaries, whether that means a candidate must surpass 50% of the vote share or nominees are selected by ranked-choice voting.